Florida Senate - 2018 SB 1650
By Senator Montford
3-01078A-18 20181650__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to child abuse, abandonment, and
3 neglect; amending s. 39.202, F.S.; prohibiting the
4 Department of Children and Families from releasing the
5 names of certain persons who have provided information
6 during a protective investigation except under certain
7 circumstances; providing an effective date.
8
9 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
10
11 Section 1. Subsections (2) and (5) of section 39.202,
12 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
13 39.202 Confidentiality of reports and records in cases of
14 child abuse or neglect.—
15 (2) Except as provided in subsection (4), access to such
16 records, excluding the name of the reporter and the names of
17 instructional personnel as defined in s. 1012.01(2), school
18 administrators as defined in s. 1012.01(3)(c), and educational
19 support employees as described in s. 1012.01(6)(a) who have
20 provided information during a protective investigation which
21 shall be released only as provided in subsection (5), shall be
22 granted only to the following persons, officials, and agencies:
23 (a) Employees, authorized agents, or contract providers of
24 the department, the Department of Health, the Agency for Persons
25 with Disabilities, the Office of Early Learning, or county
26 agencies responsible for carrying out:
27 1. Child or adult protective investigations;
28 2. Ongoing child or adult protective services;
29 3. Early intervention and prevention services;
30 4. Healthy Start services;
31 5. Licensure or approval of adoptive homes, foster homes,
32 child care facilities, facilities licensed under chapter 393,
33 family day care homes, providers who receive school readiness
34 funding under part VI of chapter 1002, or other homes used to
35 provide for the care and welfare of children;
36 6. Employment screening for caregivers in residential group
37 homes; or
38 7. Services for victims of domestic violence when provided
39 by certified domestic violence centers working at the
40 department’s request as case consultants or with shared clients.
41
42 Also, employees or agents of the Department of Juvenile Justice
43 responsible for the provision of services to children, pursuant
44 to chapters 984 and 985.
45 (b) Criminal justice agencies of appropriate jurisdiction.
46 (c) The state attorney of the judicial circuit in which the
47 child resides or in which the alleged abuse or neglect occurred.
48 (d) The parent or legal custodian of any child who is
49 alleged to have been abused, abandoned, or neglected, and the
50 child, and their attorneys, including any attorney representing
51 a child in civil or criminal proceedings. This access must shall
52 be made available no later than 60 days after the department
53 receives the initial report of abuse, neglect, or abandonment.
54 However, any information otherwise made confidential or exempt
55 by law may shall not be released pursuant to this paragraph.
56 (e) Any person alleged in the report as having caused the
57 abuse, abandonment, or neglect of a child. This access must
58 shall be made available no later than 60 days after the
59 department receives the initial report of abuse, abandonment, or
60 neglect and, when the alleged perpetrator is not a parent, must
61 shall be limited to information involving the protective
62 investigation only and may shall not include any information
63 relating to subsequent dependency proceedings. However, any
64 information otherwise made confidential or exempt by law may
65 shall not be released pursuant to this paragraph.
66 (f) A court upon its finding that access to such records
67 may be necessary for the determination of an issue before the
68 court; however, such access must shall be limited to inspection
69 in camera, unless the court determines that public disclosure of
70 the information contained therein is necessary for the
71 resolution of an issue then pending before it.
72 (g) A grand jury, by subpoena, upon its determination that
73 access to such records is necessary in the conduct of its
74 official business.
75 (h) Any appropriate official of the department or the
76 Agency for Persons with Disabilities who is responsible for:
77 1. Administration or supervision of the department’s
78 program for the prevention, investigation, or treatment of child
79 abuse, abandonment, or neglect, or abuse, neglect, or
80 exploitation of a vulnerable adult, when carrying out his or her
81 official function;
82 2. Taking appropriate administrative action concerning an
83 employee of the department or the agency who is alleged to have
84 perpetrated child abuse, abandonment, or neglect, or abuse,
85 neglect, or exploitation of a vulnerable adult; or
86 3. Employing and continuing employment of personnel of the
87 department or the agency.
88 (i) Any person authorized by the department who is engaged
89 in the use of such records or information for bona fide
90 research, statistical, or audit purposes. Such individual or
91 entity shall enter into a privacy and security agreement with
92 the department and shall comply with all laws and rules
93 governing the use of such records and information for research
94 and statistical purposes. Information identifying the subjects
95 of such records or information shall be treated as confidential
96 by the researcher and may shall not be released in any form.
97 (j) The Division of Administrative Hearings for purposes of
98 any administrative challenge.
99 (k) Any appropriate official of an a Florida advocacy
100 council in this state investigating a report of known or
101 suspected child abuse, abandonment, or neglect; the Auditor
102 General or the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
103 Accountability for the purpose of conducting audits or
104 examinations pursuant to law; or the guardian ad litem for the
105 child.
106 (l) Employees or agents of an agency of another state that
107 has comparable jurisdiction to the jurisdiction described in
108 paragraph (a).
109 (m) The Public Employees Relations Commission for the sole
110 purpose of obtaining evidence for appeals filed pursuant to s.
111 447.207. Records may be released only after deletion of all
112 information which specifically identifies persons other than the
113 employee.
114 (n) Employees or agents of the Department of Revenue
115 responsible for child support enforcement activities.
116 (o) Any person in the event of the death of a child
117 determined to be a result of abuse, abandonment, or neglect.
118 Information identifying the person reporting abuse, abandonment,
119 or neglect may shall not be released. Any information otherwise
120 made confidential or exempt by law may shall not be released
121 pursuant to this paragraph.
122 (p) An employee of the local school district who is
123 designated as a liaison between the school district and the
124 department pursuant to an interagency agreement required under
125 s. 39.0016 and the principal of a public school, private school,
126 or charter school where the child is a student. Information
127 contained in the records which the liaison or the principal
128 determines are necessary for a school employee to effectively
129 provide a student with educational services may be released to
130 that employee.
131 (q) An employee or agent of the Department of Education who
132 is responsible for the investigation or prosecution of
133 misconduct by a certified educator.
134 (r) Staff of a children’s advocacy center that is
135 established and operated under s. 39.3035.
136 (s) A physician licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459,
137 a psychologist licensed under chapter 490, or a mental health
138 professional licensed under chapter 491 engaged in the care or
139 treatment of the child.
140 (t) Persons with whom the department is seeking to place
141 the child or to whom placement has been granted, including
142 foster parents for whom an approved home study has been
143 conducted, the designee of a licensed residential group home
144 described in s. 39.523, an approved relative or nonrelative with
145 whom a child is placed pursuant to s. 39.402, preadoptive
146 parents for whom a favorable preliminary adoptive home study has
147 been conducted, adoptive parents, or an adoption entity acting
148 on behalf of preadoptive or adoptive parents.
149 (5)(a) The name of any person reporting child abuse,
150 abandonment, or neglect may not be released to any person other
151 than employees of the department responsible for child
152 protective services, the central abuse hotline, law enforcement,
153 the child protection team, or the appropriate state attorney,
154 without the written consent of the person reporting. This does
155 not prohibit the subpoenaing of a person reporting child abuse,
156 abandonment, or neglect when deemed necessary by the court, the
157 state attorney, or the department, provided the fact that such
158 person made the report is not disclosed. Any person who reports
159 a case of child abuse or neglect may, at the time he or she
160 makes the report, request that the department notify him or her
161 that a child protective investigation occurred as a result of
162 the report. Any person specifically listed in s. 39.201(1) who
163 makes a report in his or her official capacity may also request
164 a written summary of the outcome of the investigation. The
165 department must shall mail such a notice to the reporter within
166 10 days after completing the child protective investigation.
167 (b) The names of instructional personnel as defined in s.
168 1012.01(2), school administrators as defined in s.
169 1012.01(3)(c), and educational support employees as described in
170 s. 1012.01(6)(a) who have provided information during a
171 protective investigation may not be released to any person other
172 than employees of the department responsible for child
173 protective services, the central abuse hotline, law enforcement,
174 the child protection team, or the appropriate state attorney
175 without the written consent of such personnel.
176 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.